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Open, reproducible hardware for microscopy
Summary
Not relevant to microplastics — this is a scientific instrumentation article advocating for open, reproducible hardware designs in microscopy to improve transparency and replicability in experimental science.
Reproducibility and transparency have always been central tenets of good experimental science. In recent years, these have led to 'open science' practices, including openly archived data, openly licensed code and open access to publications describing key results [1-3]. However, instrumentation often lags behind data and results in terms of openness: there are, as yet, no widely adopted conventions requiring the designs of a novel instrument to be shared alongside manuscripts describing its use [4], though there is an increasing number of projects that do share plans for replication This special issue collects several articles that discuss examples of projects endeavouring to adopt open hardware as a means to better reproducibility, or greater accessibility, of cutting-edge microscopy. We also include some perspectives on future directions, and on how open hardware might offer an improved way to develop and commercialize novel microscopes.
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